Proposed changes will reduce road carnage but kill individual ownership

In Summary
The rules do not forbid such entrepreneurs banding together and starting a company, but there will be a load of trouble and litigation when they are eventually enforced.

Another rule is that PSV drivers will be employed on permanent and pensionable terms. This means that they will be insured, take annual leave, and work in shifts to reduce fatigue.

All in all, regulation of the transport sector is long overdue. We can’t afford to ignore the bigger picture which is full of blood.
By Magesha Ngwiri
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Something unusual has happened on the public transport sector front. Far-reaching changes have been suggested, and for the first time, the government and major lobbies in the industry are reading from the same script.

However, since the devil is usually in the detail, I expect an explosion of gargantuan proportions when it dawns on the PSV industry just what Transport Secretary Michael Kamau has in store for it.

That should happen in the next few weeks when it becomes clear that the move to regulate the sector in order to reduce road carnage will actually bury the individual entrepreneur and benefit the already established transport companies.

It started with a seemingly innocuous comment by Mr Kamau that the (in)famous Michuki rules are outdated. He indicated that commuters will in future be allowed to stand in the aisles as happens elsewhere in the world.

Of course, he must have meant this will happen when new passenger-friendly buses are introduced in our towns, and not the 14-seater matatus.

Unfortunately, the comment was misunderstood by operators who immediately started packing passengers into their vehicles like bags of potatoes.

NEW RULES

Of more concern is the import of the new rules announced this week, which are likely to be gazetted in the next two unless there is a hitch.

The rules are before their time, but will be highly welcomed by suffering daily commuters and long-distance travellers, so long as they reduce the discomfort, uncertainty and extortion associated with travel.

The most important of those rules leads to the conclusion that the matatu and bus investor is endangered. There will be no more individual ownership of vehicles; rather, only companies will qualify - complete with directors, managers, clerks and mechanics.

Such a company must own at least five vehicles to qualify for a licence, automatically locking out the fellow who takes out a loan, buys a 14-seater, employs a driver, then sets him loose on the road for the next 15 hours without a break.

There is something troubling about that proposition, for it expressly contradicts the spirit of free enterprise and unfettered ownership of property, contrary to the capitalist ethos we profess.

The rules do not forbid such entrepreneurs banding together and starting a company, but there will be a load of trouble and litigation when they are eventually enforced.

I suppose that in the pursuit of the greater good, anything goes, but this government is gaining a notoriety for seeking rapid economic growth at the expense of the less-endowed members of society.

PSV DRIVERS

Another rule is that PSV drivers will be employed on permanent and pensionable terms. This means that they will be insured, take annual leave, and work in shifts to reduce fatigue.

It also means they will pay tax. Thus, in a stroke, the multi-billion shilling PSV industry will be roped into the tax bracket after a decades-long holiday.

The downside of this is that fares are bound to go up astronomically, again hurting the small man and woman. Since these vehicles are supposed to have two drivers working in shifts supervised by permanent and pensionable managers, it follows that the profit margin will dwindle, and since this is business, it is inevitable that someone will have to make up the difference.

All in all, regulation of the transport sector is long overdue. We can’t afford to ignore the bigger picture which is full of blood. This country has been losing too many lives on the road for too long, often brought about by breakneck competition between operators, coupled with the avarice of the owners. Any measures taken to reduce road carnage are highly welcome.